


embers

by sevenxhells



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, post season, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-26 05:32:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1676531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenxhells/pseuds/sevenxhells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maybe he hadn’t loved her then. Momma always said that love had to grow and blossom like a flower, that time feeds it and makes it strong.</p>
            </blockquote>





	embers

“Beth.”

She hears his footsteps before the gruff sound of her name rolling out his mouth. She’s hunched over the dying embers of a fire, swirling the coals with the end of a metal hanger to make sure the last few sparks die out before the group continues on.

The alarm bells in her head went off when the brush rustled, but she hadn’t been afraid. The steady, hard footfalls comforted her enough to know she didn’t need to defend herself.

He’d been there when they found her, when Rick and Glenn and a few people she’d never seen before killed all those people; blood and gore caked into their hair and on their skin. She watched in disbelief from a crack in the door, the only sliver of light she’d known since they brought her there. She didn’t know how her people found this place and she didn’t care. She pounded her fists on the rusted metal and screamed until they’d noticed her, until her knuckles were bloodied and sore. Rick swung the door open with his pistol pointed right between her eyes. And then Maggie was there, eyes wet and hair plastered to her cheeks.

But Daryl had hung back, his eyes dark and distant like the day she first saw him at the farm. It stung and she wasn’t sure why.

They’d spent some time trying to decide what to do next. The place was safe and secure, but it would only be a matter of time before more strays showed up, and with the pile of bodies stinking up the courtyard, it wouldn’t exactly be the welcoming place all those signs claimed it to be. Not that it had been to begin with.

So they took to the road together. Stronger.

The hair stands up on the back of her neck as his footsteps close in. Why he took this moment to finally acknowledge her while the rest of the group was out hunting and gathering supplies was a mystery, but she’s glad to finally hear him speak her name.

She puts the hanger aside and wipes her hands on her tattered jeans before standing and turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. Her stomach tenses and warms at the sight of him. Not just the sight of him, but the way he’s looking at her.

“I tried to come after you--”

“I know.” She cuts him off. She doesn’t mean to and looks away. There was nothing he could do, not with her driving at what felt like 100 miles per hour away from him from that funeral home, from their life.

He shifts his weight and adjusts the strap holding the crossbow to his back before taking a step closer.

“Thought I’d never see you again.” His steady voice fails him. He clears his throat, sniffs, and looks at her.

“Me too. I thought for sure I was a goner.” She laughs lightly. “But, you, Daryl Dixon…I told you you were gonna survive.” She leans up to press her lips to his cheek, lingering against his skin a little longer than she’d intended.

When she pulls away, something in his face is changed. A hand closes around her shoulder and he kisses her, hard and swift. Her head is swimming but she manages to breath out his name before pressing into him, gripping his biceps for support. His mouth is hot, hotter than the dense Georgia air, and yet she needs it, needs the taste and feel of him. The dam has finally burst and she wonders why he didn’t try this when they were alone. Maybe he hadn’t loved her then. Momma always said that love had to grow and blossom like a flower, that time feeds it and makes it strong.

And this isn’t the right time, she knows the group will be back at any moment. His hands are trembling as they come to rest on her lower back, pulling her against him and she can’t push him away. Not when they’ve been separated all that time. Heat grows in her belly and all she wants more.

But then the crunch of leaves and twigs snap them both back to reality and Beth pulls away. She forces a smile as her sister emerges from the brush, Judith strapped to her back and Glenn at her side. Maggie’s eyes flicker down and it’s then that Beth realizes her fingers are still laced with Daryl’s, his heavy breath the only sound now ringing in her ears.

Maggie smiles and gives Daryl a slight nod. It might not be how she’d imagined her family to accept someone like him, but in this world, everything is different.

“Time to go.”

Beth slings her bag over her shoulder as the last remains of the fire smolders and they start out together, hands clasped, ready for the next adventure.

****  
  


**Author's Note:**

> i'm still going off my theory of beth being taken to terminus, but who the fuck knows
> 
> this is something i meant to write for kasey after the finale but i couldn't write for a long time and today it just came out


End file.
